Étienne Brûlé, (born c. 1592, Champigny-sur-Marne, Fr.—died June 1633, New France [Canada]) French-born Canadian explorer who emigrated in 1608 and was the first recorded European in what is now the province of Ontario.

Étienne Brûlé, plaque commemorating his explorations, Toronto.

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Brûlé is believed to have lived for a year (1610–11) among the Algonquin Indians in order to learn their language. Subsequently, he pioneered the role of interpreter between the French and various tribes, including the Hurons. With the explorer Samuel de Champlain he explored Lake Ontario (1615) and probably reached Lake Superior (1622). The details of his death remain uncertain, but according to several accounts, he was killed and eaten by the Hurons, his adoptive tribe, whose lore thereafter attributed a prolonged “curse” to his murder.

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